Life of St Columba 2 part 2/2

and, struck by some rival of his with an axe in the little pit of a threshing-floor, he shall die. All which things concerning both of them, according to the prophecy of the holy man, were fully fulfilled. Chapter 22: Of Columban, Likewise a Common Man, Whose Very Few Cattle the Holy Man Blessed; But After His Blessing They Increased to the Number of a Hundred. At another time also, the blessed man on a certain night, when he was being well lodged with the aforementioned Columban, then at that time poor, early in the morning the Saint, just as was related above concerning Nesan, asked the common host about the quantity and quality of his substance. He, being asked, said: I have only five little cows; which, if you bless them, will increase the more.

He straightway, bidden by the Saint, brought them; and in like manner, as was said above concerning Nesan's five little cows, the Saint, blessing this Columban's five little cattle equally, said: By God's gift you shall have a hundred and five cows, and there shall be a flourishing blessing in your sons and grandsons. All which things, according to the prophecy of the blessed man, were most fully accomplished in his fields and cattle and offspring; and in a marvelous manner the number foreordained by the Saint for both the men aforesaid, fulfilled in the hundred and five of the cows, could in no way be exceeded:

for those cattle which exceeded above the foreordained number, snatched away by various mishaps, nowhere appeared, except for that which could be expended either for the proper uses of the household, or also for the work of almsgiving. In this narrative, therefore, as in the others, the miracle of power and prophecy together are openly shown: for in the great increase of the cows the power both of the blessing and of the prayer appears, and in the foreordaining of the number, prophetic foreknowledge. Chapter 23: Of the Destruction of the Evildoers Who Had Despised the Saint. The venerable man greatly loved the aforementioned Columban, whom the power of his blessing had made rich from poor; because he rendered him many offices of piety.

Now there was at that time a certain evildoer, a persecutor of the good, named Joan, son of Conall son of Domnall, sprung from the royal stock of Gabran. This man persecuted the aforesaid Columban, the friend of holy Columba; and had laid waste his house, with all that was found in it, plundering it — not once but twice — acting in hostile fashion. Whence it perhaps befell, not undeservedly, that same wicked man, that on the third occasion, after the third pillaging of that house, returning to his ship laden with booty with his companions, he met the blessed man face to face, approaching nearer — the man whom he had despised as though set far off.

When the Saint rebuked him for his evils, and asking, urged him to lay down the plunder, he, remaining harsh and unpersuadable, despised the Saint, and boarding the ship with the booty, mocked and derided the blessed man. The Saint followed him as far as the sea, and entering the glassy sea-waters up to his knees, with both hands raised to heaven, earnestly prayed to Christ, who glorifies His elect that glorify Him. Now that harbor, in which after the departure of the persecutor he stood entreating the Lord for a little while, is in the place which in Irish is called Ait-Chambas Art-muirchol. Then thereupon the Saint, his prayer being finished, returned to dry land, and sat with his companions in a more elevated place:

to whom in that hour he uttered very dreadful words, saying: This wretched little man, who has despised Christ in His servants, shall never return to the harbor from which he just now departed before your eyes; nor shall he reach the other lands which he seeks, but, forestalled by sudden death, shall perish with his evil accomplices. Today — as soon you shall see — a fierce squall sent forth from a cloud risen from the north shall drown him with his companions; nor shall even one of them remain to tell the tale. After the intervention of a few short delays, on a most serene day, behold, as the Saint had said, a cloud risen from the sea, sent forth with a great roar of wind, finding the plunderer with his booty between the islands of Mull and Coll, suddenly, the sea being troubled, sank him in mid-sea:

nor, according to the Saint's word, did even one of those who were in the ship escape; and in a marvelous manner, while all the sea around remained calm, one such squall struck down those rapacious men, sunk to the nether regions — pitiably indeed, but deservedly. Chapter 24: Of a Certain Feradach Carried Off by Sudden Death. At another time also, the holy man carefully assigned and commended a certain exile of the noble stock of the Picts, Tarain by name, into the hand of a certain rich man, Feradach, who dwelt in the island of Islay, that he might live in his company, as one of his friends, for some months. When he had received the man, commended with such commendation from the hand of the holy man, after a few days, acting treacherously, by a cruel command he had him slaughtered.

When this monstrous crime was reported to the Saint by travelers, he spoke thus in reply: Not to me but to God has that unhappy little man lied, whose name shall be blotted out of the book of life. These words we now speak in mid-summer time, but in autumn, before he tastes of swine's flesh fattened on the fruit of trees, forestalled by sudden death, he shall be snatched away to the regions of hell. This prophecy of the holy man, when the wretched little fellow announced it, he despising mocked the Saint: and after some days of the autumn months, by his command, a sow fattened on the kernels of nuts was slaughtered, while none other of that man's swine had yet been slaughtered;

of which, quickly disemboweled, he ordered a portion to be roasted for himself in greater haste on a spit, that the impatient man, tasting of it beforehand, might destroy the blessed man's prophecy. When it was roasted, he demanded that some little morsel be given him to taste beforehand; and before he could turn to his mouth the hand stretched out to take it, breathing his last, he fell dead backward upon his back. And those who had seen, and those who had heard, greatly trembling, marveling, honoring Christ in the holy prophet, glorified Him. Chapter 25:

Of Another Wicked Man, a Persecutor of the Church, Whose Name in Latin Means 'Right Hand.' At another time, the blessed man, dwelling in the island of Hinba, had begun to excommunicate certain other persecutors of the churches, namely the sons of Conall son of Domnall, of whom one was Joan, of whom we related above; whereupon one of their fellow evildoers, at the devil's instigation, rushed in with a spear, to slay the Saint. Guarding against this, one of the brothers, Findlugan by name, ready to die for the holy man, clothed in his cowl, interposed himself.

But in a marvelous manner the blessed man's garment of this kind, like a most well-fortified and impenetrable breastplate, although by the strong thrust of a sharp spear of a strong man, could not be pierced, but remained unharmed; and he who was clothed in it, untouched and unhurt, was protected by such a defense. But that wicked man, who was 'Right Hand,' stepped back, supposing that he had pierced the holy man with the spear. After a full year was completed from that day, when the Saint was dwelling in the island of Iona, he said: Up to this day a full year is completed, from the day on which Lam-dess, as far as he was able, slaughtered Findlugan in my stead; but he too, as I reckon, is at this very hour being slaughtered.

This, according to the Saint's revelation, came to pass at that same moment in that island which in Latin may be called Longa: where Lam-dess alone, in some warfare waged by men on both sides, transfixed by the javelin of Cronan son of Baithan — cast, as is reported, in the name of holy Columba — had perished; and after his death the warring men ceased to fight. Chapter 26: Of Another Persecutor Likewise of the Innocent. When the blessed man, still a young deacon, was dwelling in the region of the Leinstermen, learning divine wisdom, it happened one day that a certain harsh and cruel persecutor of the innocent was pursuing a little girl who was fleeing across the level of a plain.

When she chanced to see old Gemman, the master of the aforementioned young deacon, reading in the field, she fled to him with a straight course, with all the speed she could. He, disturbed by such a sudden event, called Columba, who was reading at a distance, that both of them, as far as they were able, might defend the girl from her pursuer. He, immediately coming up, with no reverence shown them by him, slew the girl with his lance beneath their garments; and leaving her lying dead upon their feet, turned away and began to depart. Then the old man, greatly grieved, turning to Columba, said: How long, holy boy Columba, will God the just Judge suffer this crime, together with the dishonor of our time-span, to go unavenged?

The Saint accordingly uttered this sentence against that very wicked man, saying: In the same hour in which the soul of the girl slain by him ascends to the heavens, let the soul of her slayer himself descend to the depths below. And quicker than the word was spoken, with the word, just as Ananias before Peter, so also that slayer of the innocent, before the eyes of the holy youth, fell dead in that same little plot of ground. The report of this sudden and dreadful vengeance was immediately spread abroad through many provinces of Ireland, together with the wondrous fame of the holy deacon. Let it suffice to have spoken thus far of the terrifying retributions upon adversaries: now we shall relate a few things about beasts. Chapter 27:

Of the Boar Slain Through His Prayer. At another time, the blessed man, when he was tarrying for some days in the island of Skye, having gone a little further off alone, separated from the brothers for the sake of prayer, entered a dense wood and met face to face a wild boar of wondrous size, which by chance hunting dogs were pursuing. Seeing it from afar, the Saint, gazing at it, stood still. Then thereafter, having invoked the name of God, with his holy hand raised, with earnest prayer he said to it: You shall wish to proceed no further hither: in the place to which you have now come, die. At this word of the Saint resounding in the woods, not only was it unable to advance further, but before his face the terrible wild beast, slain by the power of his word, swiftly fell down. Chapter 28:

Of the Repelling of a Certain Water Beast by the Power of the Blessed Man's Prayer. At another time also, when the blessed man was tarrying for some days in the province of the Picts, he had need to cross the river Ness: and when he had come to its bank, he saw some of the inhabitants burying a wretched little man; whom, as the buriers themselves reported, a water beast had a little while before seized as he was swimming and bitten with a most savage bite: whose miserable corpse some men coming to his aid in a boat, though too late, had snatched up with outstretched hooks. The blessed man, on the contrary, hearing this, commanded that one of the companions, swimming across, bring back to him by sailing the cot (small boat) that stood on the other bank.

At this command of the holy and praiseworthy man having been heard, Lugne Mocumin, delaying not at all, in obedience, having laid aside his garments except his tunic, cast himself into the waters. But the monster, which before was not so much satiated as inflamed for prey, lay lurking in the depth of the river, and perceiving the water troubled above by him as he swam, suddenly rising up, swimming toward the man swimming in the middle of the channel, with a huge roar, rushed with open mouth. The blessed man then, seeing it, while all who were present, both the barbarians and also the brothers, were stricken with exceeding terror, with his holy hand raised, having traced in the empty air the saving sign of the cross, having invoked the name of God, commanded the fierce beast, saying: You shall not advance further, nor touch the man; turn back swiftly.

Then indeed the beast, having heard this voice of the Saint, fled backward, as if dragged by ropes, with swifter retreat, trembling: it which before had approached Lugne swimming so close that there was no more than the length of a single pole between the man and the beast. The brothers then, seeing the beast had withdrawn, and their fellow-soldier Lugne returned to them in the little boat untouched and unhurt, with exceeding wonder glorified God in the blessed man. But also the heathen barbarians who were present at that time, compelled by the magnitude of that same miracle, which they themselves had seen, magnified the God of the Christians. Chapter 29:

Of the Little Soil of This Island Blessed by the Saint, That Henceforth the Venom of Vipers Should Harm No One in It. On a certain day of that same summer-time in which he passed over to the Lord, the Saint, conveyed in a wagon, went to visit the brothers who were doing manual work in the western little plain of the island of Iona. After the consoling words spoken to them by the Saint, standing in a more elevated place, he thus prophesied, saying: From this day, little sons, I know that in the places of this little plain you shall never in the future be able to see my face.

Seeing them greatly saddened at hearing this word, and striving to console them as far as could be done, he lifted up both his holy hands, and blessing this whole island of ours, he said, 'From this very moment of this present hour the venom of all vipers shall in no way be able to harm either men or cattle in the soil of this island, so long as the inhabitants of this same dwelling-place keep the commandments of Christ.' Chapter 30: Concerning a Dagger Blessed by the Saint with the Sign of the Lord's Cross. At another time a certain brother named Molua, grandson of Briun, coming to the Saint while he was writing at that very hour, said to him, 'This iron blade which I have in my hand, I beg you to bless.'

He, slightly stretching out his holy hand with the pen and making the sign, blessed it, his face turned toward the book on which he was writing. When the aforesaid brother had withdrawn with the blessed blade, the Saint inquired, saying, 'What iron did I bless for the brother?' Diormit, his devoted attendant, said, 'You blessed a dagger for slaughtering bulls or oxen.' But he, answering on the contrary, declared, 'The iron which I blessed, I trust in my Lord, will harm neither man nor beast.' That word of the Saint was proved most firm at that very hour. For the same brother, having gone out beyond the rampart of the monastery, wishing to slaughter an ox, tried three firm times with strong thrusts, yet could not even pierce its hide.

When the monks, knowing this by experience, melted down the iron of that same dagger by the heat of fire and spread it as a coating over all the iron tools of the monastery, those tools could thereafter wound no flesh, the power of that Saint's blessing remaining upon them.